"Archform - Beauty - 02 - Flash" - читать интересную книгу автора (Modesitt L E)

"She couldn't. I didn't tell her, and whether you accept the job or not, we'll want a confidentiality agreement."
"I only sign those if they include the standard waiver on illegality," I pointed out.
"That's more than acceptable. We're more concerned about our research and scholarship being disseminated before it's peer reviewed. I know your reputation is impeccable..."
"But the confidentiality agreement has to be signed in person with a GIL verification and authentication?"
"Exactly." Uy-Smythe raised both perfect eyebrows. "You've dealt with nonprofs before?"
"No. Sensitive data, and I'm aware of the prudence test for confidentiality."
"Just so. Could you come by our office tomorrow?"
"Two o'clock?"
"Ah ... two-thirty might be a bit better. I'll send the address and coordinates."
"Two-thirty." I flashed a smile, the kind I hoped projected warmth.
Once the projection blanked and vanished, I reached for the mug of Grey teaЧand found it was empty. Too much Grey tea, another of my faults. I flicked to All-News, and instructed the house system to have the projection follow me through the formal front parlor to the kitchen.
Aliora had said more than once that my house was obscenely large for a single man, but I'd bought it and contracted for the office modifications and repairs when I'd thought matters would work out with Shioban. That meant I'd been paying the single-occupant surtax for nearly five years, but the privacy was worth it, at least so long as I held on to my clients.

Good news from Ceres ... the fault in the mining complex has been sealed, and there have been no more fatalities ... The total stands at 114 ... Not so good news from Serenium, where the so-called Martian Assembly has threatened secession ... MultiCor is shipping more of its CorPak safos to Mars in full-grav centrifuge ships...

With NorAm elections less than two months away, Continental Executive Poulas may be faced with another two years of infighting. Polls show the Popular Democrats with 98 seats in the House, while the Laborite Republicans would have 102, with, of course, Palan Druw as an independent. The Senate is likely to remain solidly in LR hands...

The unidentified cydroid struck and killed by an electrolorry on the Capital Guideway remains a mystery. The cydroid was an unregistered and unknown type carrying sophisticated microtronic gear. Capital safos have not released any additional information, except to say that Investigations are proceeding...

The Northern African Republic lightened restrictions on all movement north, in the wake of the resurgence of the ebol2 outbreak. NAR's President Hammad reassured the people of all Afrique that the restrictions were temporary ... European Community in-ports have instituted full health screens on travelers from Afrique...

The PAMD has struck again. An AP missile slammed into the armored limo of Everett Forster, Director General of Unite ... injuring Forster and his driver. Forster had just testified before the Defense Committee of the NorAm Senate on whether Unite had illegally transferred BID technology to SOFIS, a deep-space development multilateral headquartered on Mars ... reputed to be supporting the Martian independence movement. Forster emphatically denied making the sensitive accelerated ion-drive available to an off-Earth entity. A filtered message arrived in most media outlets coincidentally with the attack, stating that Patriots against Multilateral Domination would continue to target greedy and guilty multilateral executives. A second message received later denied responsibility, saying that PAMD still supported peaceful means to outsystem independence, and that the attack represented an attempt to discredit PAMD...

Unite was certainly no paragon of virtue, but the BID technology was still in prototype designs. Forster would have been cutting his own throat to let go of it before Unite could either sell it to one of the continental governments or obtain an extravagant procurement contract. What all the leftists throughout history failed to understand was that they weren't any different from the rightists. They both wanted to repress something in the name of some other greater good. I didn't even snort. What was the point? I'd have been snorting all the time.
Once back in the kitchen, I flicked down the lever on the antique electrokettle. Actual boiled water and old-fashioned tea bags made the Grey taste better than anything out of a household reformulator. But then, reformulators were limited to producing dietarily sufficient food, if it could be called that.
While the water boiled, I had to make an effort to avoid opening any of the cabinets, or walking into the pantry. With exercise and care in eating, I'd maintained my weight, and I didn't like the thought of either dieting or trying the new nanetic-metabolic balancing infusions. The medical literature indicated they still had more than a few problems, even if the linkpops swore by them.
Once the kettle clicked off, I poured the boiling water into the big mug and swirled the tea bag, thinking about Reya and Uy-Smythe. Reya Decostas did few altruistic favors for anyone, and definitely wasn't a social do-gooder. Mug in hand, with the tea steaming and too hot to sip immediately, I headed back to the office.
While the Grey tea cooled on the side of the console, I settled into the ergochair and screened in the inquiryЧCentre for Societal Research. Within seconds, the holo projection was displaying a summary.

Centre for Societal Research ... nonprofit foundation, Denv, Colorado District, NorAm. Annual exp. 15Cr[million] Assets 100Cr[million] ... Exec Dir: Tan Uy-Smythe, Admin Dir: Sheren Stolzen...
Commissions and funds independent research into macro-socio conditions; publishes 15-25 major studies annually; independent review board...

Aliora, the gatekeeper announced.
Accept.
"Jonat!" Aliora was a bundle of energy, not exactly compact at a hundred and eighty centimeters, but despite her height she conveyed the impression of both energy and compactness, from the short curly brown hair to the deep green eyes, and the restlessness that showed itself as she paced back and forth on the veranda of her house. Like all deVrais, she had a hard time staying still.
"Aliora..."
"You are coming Thursday night? You won't have some urgent project and beg off at the last moment?"
"I've only done that once, and it was almost two years agoЧ"
"You're exaggerating. As usual. One year, seven months, and twenty-one days." Aliora laughed.
"What can I say?"
'That you'll be here, on time. Narissa is really looking forward to meeting you."
"Narissa?" I tried to look clueless.
"Remember? That's one of the reasons you're coming. You keep complaining that you never meet the right kind of women."
"And she's looking for an ascendent husband?"
"No. She's Senator Hareldsen's niece, and she's a junior advocate in the Colorado District's Civil Enforcement Office."
"Oh..." I offered a grin. "She wants to make sure she stays an ascendent."
"Jonat!"
"I'll be there I promised, and I'll be charming, even if she isn't."
"She's very intelligent. She is also charming."
"I'll be there," I said again. "How's Dierk?"